Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Closer Look: Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing

The Paul L. Foster School of Medicine campus will get a major new addition by 2015. Groundbreaking for the new Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing building took place last month.

Construction crews are now laying the foundation for the 34,000 square foot facility which will be located on North Concepcion Street across from the School of Medicine’s Medical Education Building. The building will include 12,000 square feet of simulation labs, four classrooms, and collaborative learning spaces.

Currently, the Hunt School of Nursing operates out of a temporary location at 415 East Yandell Drive in Downtown El Paso. The Medical Center of the Americas (MCA) Foundation is helping to make the new building a reality.

The School of Nursing accepted its first class of students in 2011 after a $10 million donation from the Hunt Family Foundation helped form the school in 2010. Officials hope to have 300 nursing students at the school within five years. There are now 116 students and 13 faculty members at the school.

Construction helps to add to the MCA campus which is also working on a new Tech Park which will soon start construction on a $28 million, 83,000 square foot biomedical research structure. Completion of the building is also expected in 2015.

The entire MCA campus encompasses 440 acres of land in South Central El Paso. Other anchors of the campus include University Medical Center, El Paso Children’s Hospital, and the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. The MCA’s Master Plan envisions an integrated medical treatment, learning, and research campus within 50 years.